Monday, 08 May 2006

Road Trip: Yai Restaurant - Los Angeles

We made a quick "road trip" to Los Angeles this past Sunday, and were really excited about our destination which was in the Hollywood area. Mainly because Los Angeles is the home of the first "Thai Town" in the United States. We had only visited this area two or three times while still living in LA, and we were amazed at the business growth since we last visited nearly 5 years ago.

Our destination was a small non-descript Restaurant tucked away in a slightly seedy and gritty corner mini-mall. Hidden behind and to the right of a 7-11 is Yai Restaurant.

Now to get it straight, Yai, is a no frills, no ambiance, no white table cloth restaurant. The main focus here is the food. And what Yai lacks in any decor, it makes up in very well made and flavorful dishes. The parking lot can be a challenge, because of size, and also the popular Peruvian Restaurant next door. So we timed our arrival, and got to Yai at about 330pm.

At this hour the restaurant was fairly empty, but oh, the smells! We had a very difficult time determining what we were going to order, but after some thought ordered 3 dishes from the menu, and 1 from the "greaseboard" of specials. As we sat and waited we assaulted by all the wonderful smells of our food cooking. We were absolutely famished since we hadn't eaten anything all day.

The first dish to arrive was the BBQ Duck with Chili and Garlic($7.95):

Now one of the problems I have with ordering these type of duck dishes is that the duck is usually a combination of dry, fatty, with splinters of bones making each bite a possible hazard. But worse of all the rich duck flavor is muted by either lousy duck, lousy preparation, or a really bad sauce. This was none of the above. The duck was moist, not too fatty, and the rich flavor of the duck came through. This was true, even though the sauce had a very strong somewhat sweet, garlicky, salty, and spicy flavor. I could eat this(and a bowl of rice) daily. A really good dish. It made me wonder what the Pork Leg with Chili and Garlic tasted like.

The Jungle Curry with Shrimp($8.95):

For those not familiar with Jungle Curry, I think of it as a red curry that doesn't use coconut milk, which can sometimes mute the galangal-lemongrass flavor. Jungle Curry in many cases also uses a larger amount of chilies, and boy was that true in this case. Even though we ordered the dish "medium", there was no subtle layering of heat. This one was in your face, burning a path from your lips down your throat. The heat nullified most all the other flavors. What I did enjoy were the perfectly cooked and plump shrimp. I was also over-joyed to find Thai Eggplant in the dish. Now I can tolerate alot of spicy food, but this one was quite hot!

The Black Egg Pow($7.95):

Now I'm not quite sure how the Missus sniffed this dish out, though she loves preserved duck egg. I'd also never heard of this dish before, so we ordered it. After doing this for almost a year, dishes that make me go "wow" are few and far between, but this was a definite Wow. It seems that the preserved egg is first fried to create an outer crust, then quartered and mixed with a stir fry of julienned peppers, then topped with fried basil leaves which give it an additional sweet-herbaceous "crunch". Now the menu says the sauce is a chili-garlic sauce, but it does not resemble the sauce with the BBQ Duck at all. I could just eat the sauce and rice and be perfectly happy. The Missus between bites told me "suan tian ku la xian". In Mandarin a perfect balance of sour, sweet, bitter, hot(we ordered medium), and salty. The duck egg was slightly crisp from the frying, and creamy and rich. A perfect spoonful would look something like:

Delici-yoso!!!

The last dish was the Red Curry with Sole($8.95):

We ordered this dish "medium" in heat, and again it nearly blew my doors off, and the julienned ginger actually made the dish even more hot. I also wished that the sole had been dusted with flour and deep fried better to seal in the the natural flavor and moisture of the fish. As it was served it was somewhat flaky and dry. Though not a bad dish, I'll skip it next time. It was interesting, all of that Thai, Laotian, and Sichuan food, and the stuff here was probably among the hottest I've had!

As we finished up, a large party of students, a large family, and few other parties had arrived, and Yai was hopping:

I'd say they really know a good thing! Good prices, good food, and efficient service....say no more.

Yai Restaurant5757 Hollywood Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90028

A quick non-food post-script

The reason we were in LA, and Hollywood for that matter was to see a movie. Now not just any movie. But the creation of the persona we know as DietChiliCheeseFries. His alter-ego known as Ron Co-Directed and Wrote a very, very funny "dramedy" called Asian Stories (Book III), a full length feature that is both funny and touching, and has a great(that's the Missus talking Ron) ending! You done great, man!

So if you have a chance to see the film, please check it out. I'm hoping it comes to the San Diego Asian Film Festival, so I can check it out again.

You'll be amazed to know that the film was created by Ron and Kris Chin, who from what I understand graduated from the Barnes & Noble School of Filmaking! Amazing.....

BTW, the theaters at Directors Guild of America are pretty awesome, and the VC Filmfest 2006 made an excellent decision in picking up the film, which did sell out. 600 people can't be wrong!

Comments

Were you at the DGA last night??? MS and I were there, almost didn't get seats even though I bought tickets online, but got to go in before the previews. I was impressed that they made this film but had some pretty mixed views about all the "Oriental" comments. I absolutely loved the acting by Kirt Kishita... he was pretty funny and I thought one of the only actors who played a convincing role. But that's my two cents worth... overall, not bad of an Asian American indie film. Can't wait to check out "Finding Home" tomorrow night!

Next time you are in Thai town you GOT to try Ruen Pair. It's considered of equal quality as Yai. I really like the papaya sald (duh!), the shrimp cakes,... hell i like everything on the menu. Put it on your list.

The duck egg dish has me drooling everywhere...crap. I've only had duck eggs with jook or in a tangy vietnamese salad, but fried, hoo boy, add that restaurant onto my list!...Really should be studying for a chinese final. What are doing to my studies, kirk?! LOL. Now my stomach is growling - you're post was a delicious success:)

Next time you're in Thai Town, gotta try out the decidedly non-Thai-restaurant feeling Krung Teed. Its decor is more MTV (two karaoke screens and a synthesizer) than Ayutthaya, but the soups and the fluffy and crispy catfish "fuu" are to die for.

Hi Kristy - Yes, we went just to check out Ron's film. Actually, non of the "oriental" jokes really bothered me, but some of the other caricatures were over-the-top...call me crass, but when taken in context I didn't find it very offensive. I've also seen some really lousy (and many times politically correct) Asian American Films at the SDAFF over the last 5 years, so I guess I enjoyed the honesty! And we also thought Kirt Kishita's acting was so very natural and convincing. And you're right, in the realm of AMA Independant films, not bad at all!

Hi Ted - We'll try out Ruen Pair the next time, though I hate that parking lot....we usually visit Bhan Kanom Thai, and see how crazy the parking is.

Hi Clare - It is really good stuff. So how long a swim is it???? :o)

Hi Kathy - I think the preserved egg dish is right up your alley. But I'm sure when you get to Thai Town you'll find some really good "stuff".

I just made a version of Jungle Curry out of a cook-book (www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1579651143?v=glance), but it wasn't anywhere near as firey as that. Jungly curry can refer to any sort of Thai curry made without coconut milk, but that certainly looks like a great version. As soon as I'd finished the post I had told me wife we will be taking 101 up through Thai Town next time we are heading north. Thanks for the great find, Kirk!

Hi Elmo - The jungle curry was very spicy...it'll have you doing the jungle boogie alright.

Hi JosephE - I realize that a Jungle Curry can be any non-coconut milk curry - but so far every restaurant version I've had has been of the "red" variety, I've also noticed that though a traditional Jungle Curry usually is quite heavily flavored with either fish sauce or shrimp paste, most versions I've had are not. If I may be so forward as to recommend a Thai Cookbook, well it's much more then a cookbook - the first real recipe isn't for like 200 pages into the book - I'd recommend David Thompson's book Thai Food(if you don't already have it) - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580084621/qid=1147234283/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-5844249-2251316?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

From what I heard David Thompson has been commissioned by the Thai Government to authenticate traditional thai recipes...quite an honor for an Australian. It's a fantastic and most treasured book in my collection.

Thanks for the book recommendation; I'm thinking of getting it. I only now saw your reply.

We went to Yai today while staying in Hollywood (we are looking for an apartment in Long Beach; I graduate June 1st. Did Joyanna invite you to the party?)

I would never have thought to order a dish with "black eggs", but it was great. Your mrs was right; "suan tian ku la xian", a perfect balance of. The crisp fried, dark green basil was one of the most interesting uses of herbs I have seen, and contrasted perfectly with the rich, smooth, soft egg. I colors - dark green, purple-black, bright red - were quite a contrast to my wife's bowl of soup (though that was also quite good, very reminiscent of South Vietnamese Pho Ga or other rice noodle soups)

I'm ashamed to say I couldn't eat it all, but we did fill up on the relatively healthy Tom Yum (green papaya salad).

We are thinking of trying Ruen Pair, and the temple stalls on the weekend. Any other recommendations in the area? Or in Long Beach?

Hi Joseph - First off, kudos and congrats! It's really nice to hear from you; I assume fatherhood suits you well. That Black Egg Pow is something else, isn't it? Long Beach is home to the largest Khmer Population in the US...though we haven't yet tried any of the Cambodian Restaurant in the area, I have had recommendation for a place called Sophy's(sp?) and Siem Reap among others...so maybe you;ll explore and let me know. Also you're just a freeway drive from Gardena/Torrance and Little Saigon - you've got a plethora of choices. Please let me know when you get settled!